Abstract:A new paradigm in the tourism industry is changing the meaning of culture and its use in promoting several touristic products/experiences and destinations. The questions we want to answer are the following: How can creative tourism be important in a destination and what are its implications in its organization? Methodology was based on the bibliographic review related to the object of study, data and content analysis, "snowball sampling" technique, surveys and participant observation technique. This paper analyzes how the event MED Festival in Loulé, Algarve has improved local economy, solved urban problems in the historical center (venue of the event) and helped to differentiate touristic supply in the mature touristic destination in the Algarve, Portugal.Keywords: Cultural and Creative Tourism; Cultural Event; Urban Regeneration; MED Festival; Algarve. Turismo cultural y creativo en PortugalResumen: Un nuevo paradigma en la industria turística está cambiando el significado de la cultura y sus usos de forma a promocionar productos o experiencias y destinos otros. Las cuestiones que ponemos son las siguientes: ¿Cuál es la importancia del turismo creativo en un destino turístico y cuáles serán las consecuencias para su organización? La metodología seguida se basó en una revisión de la literatura relativa al objeto de investigación, estudio de caso, análisis de datos, análisis de contenido, toma de muestras, "bola de nieve", encuestas y observación participante. Este artículo analiza cómo el evento Festival MED en Loulé, Algarve ha mejorado la economía local, ha resuelto problemas urbanos en el centro histórico (área del evento) y ayudó a diferenciar la oferta turística en el destino turístico maduro, en el Algarve, Portugal.Palabras Clave: Turismo cultural y turismo creativo; evento cultural; Regeneración Urbana; MED Festival; Algarve.

Despite the rising number of creative tourism publications, creative tourism is still emerging as a recent research area. Its study ranges from urban cities to rural areas implicating different uses for creativity, culture, events, creative networks and the co-creation of experiences. This paper had the goal to focus on the main theoretical subjects of creative tourism as a research area. As a result, the authors pinpoint vital issues present in creative tourism literature even though its definition is still evolving. After a thorough literature review, the authors conceptualised three main theoretical contributions present in creative tourism literature: 1) creativity and its relation to tourism, (2) specialised consumption as a characteristic of the postmodern tourist and 3) the experience economy paradigm and co-creation. This study identifies the main theoretical underpinnings of creative tourism, which made this special interest tourism gain so much importance in recent years.

Creative tourism has been a proficuous ground for the implementation of ICT's (Information and Communications Technology) strategies and the so-called creative industries. New cultural mediators are changing tourism consumption. Postmodern consumers have brought new perceptions to cocreation processes through user-generated content, eWOM (Electronic Word of Mouth), peer-to-peer exchange, collaborative economy, SoLoMo (social-local-mobile) tourists, among others. Booktubers and music fans/consumers in Chile constitute examples of diverse consumption through virtual and physical mediation, as capital construction enables social practices. In this exploratory study, the authors discuss how creative experiences are being consumed through cultural mediation made possible by technological developments. The creative tourism network website is analysed in the light of postmodern cultural mediation and capital construction.

Creative tourism experiences constitute clear examples of the experience economy principles. They address new tourists' necessities. They can activate tangible and intangible resources, contribute to the development of local skills while offering the chance to engage with the overall social agents of the tourism system addressing key tourism challenges of the 21st century. Over the past few years, surf tourism has aroused the interest of many people, and surf tourists are increasingly more experienced, demanding and seeking a wide range of engaging experiences. To connect surf tourism to creative tourism, the authors developed a model focused on a creative surf experience. The chapter presents several contributions to the development of creative experiences of surf tourism where surf destinations can focus on and develop a greater audience that searches for such experiences.

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